Hi, Friends! I can’t believe it’s Sunday already, CRAP! How did your breakfast challenge go last week? I did a pretty good job eating a bigger breakfast; it worked well. In fact, it may have worked a little too well, most days I wasn’t hungry for lunch till like 2-3 pm, then not hungry for dinner at all. By Friday I reduced my portions a little bit and found a nice happy medium where I was hungry around 1 pm. It’s all about trial and error people!
- Sunday- Salted Mocha Protein Smoothie
- Monday- UCAN Bar + Chocolate Protein Sun Butter Oatmeal
- Tuesday- Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Scramble in a waning sun butter jar
- Wednesday-Acorn squash eggs and a couple of hours later a yogurt (see Fridays Food and Photography Favorites)
- Thursday- 1/2 banana mid workout (I was so hungry I couldn’t stand it), Chia Protein Yogurt +1/2 banana and PB (See Fridays Food and Photography Favorites)
- Friday- Chia Protein Yogurt + 1/2 banana, cottage cheese a couple of hours later.
- Saturday- UCAN + UCAN bar pre-run, epic egg sandwich post run
Week #3: Increase Veggie Intake
One of the goals I’m continually working on is ways to up my veggie intake; it’s also the first goal I set for almost all my Hungry Hobby RD clients. Research consistently shows increased vegetable consumption leads to a wealth of health benefits including cancer and chronic diseases prevention as well as weight control. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it can be challenging to get enough produce. I love me some veggies, but when I’m running out the door, it’s just easier to grab an energy or protein bar, or even a piece of fruit. However, with a little planning, you can get in the recommended 7-9 (what you thought it was 5, that’s minimum, 7-9 is what is currently the standard for cancer prevention) per day!
I usually try to aim for 1-2 servings (fistfuls) of non-starchy vegetables per meal. (Today’s tips will focus on non-starchy veggies, don’t worry we’ve still got 49 weeks to cover all the other types of veggies!)
General Tips
- Start by just adding them into the meals your already eating. Until eating tons of veggies becomes an actual habit, set a goal of including them at every meal in any way you want to with the meals you are already eating. Don’t try to overhaul your diet to be the plant-based one sitting, just eat what you would normally eat and add a veggie to that.
- Put them where you can see them! It’s like out of sight out of mind in reverse! My number one thing is using the crisper drawers for fruit, eggs, and cheese. I keep my veggies on the shelves where I can see them.
- Prepare vegetables as you put them away, don’t wait till they become a science experiment. Prepping my veggies as I put them away, is the number one change I made to increase my veggie intake. If they were ready to go, I was much more likely to eat them during the week. If I didn’t, the thought of having to wash, rinse, and prep it before I got to eat deterred me.
- In fact, try prepping enough for the whole week! I often make enough lunches for Mr. Hungry for all week, that makes one big bag of roasted carrots or a salad and were ready to go!
- Keep quickly pre-prepped options like frozen and fresh steamer bags.
- Keep easy prep finger veggies that are easy to grab.
- Experiment with cooking them! Sautéing, roasting and grilling add flavor depth and healthy fat to help with nutrient absorption.
- Don’t be afraid to add flavor including seasonings, oil-based dressing, and good old butter.
- Join a CSA box. When I had my boxes going I was encouraged to be on my game and get in lots of vegetables.
- Try things you hated as a kid, or you think you will not like, your taste buds have evolved! My college roommate was flabbergasted when we met up, and I ordered an arugula pizza salad. I ate like I was eating off the kid’s menu till I was a senior in college, your taste buds can adapt!
- Plan, Prepare and Prioritize! Use meal planning tools and organize your success.
Breakfast
-
Add leafy greens and other veggies to smoothies –>
This has totally become mainstream NOW, but I remember the first time I saw my friend Jenny with a giant green smoothie. I was intrigued (because I was already in Grad School for Nutrition) and also kind of disgusted. I PROMISE YOU CAN NOT TASTE IT! Give it ONE try!
Add veggies into eggs muffins, scrambles, omelets and quiches
-
- Veggie Packed Egg Muffins
- Broccoli Shrimp Omelet
- Spicy Broccoli Cheddar Quiche –> you guys loved this one on yummly!
- Cauliflower Rice Crusted Frittata
- Bacon Zucchini Quiche
- Eggs are one of my favorite ways to get in veggies, be sure to check out the recipe box for a million more recipes!
Lunch/Dinner
- Salads are an excellent way to get large fistfuls of veggies in.
- Finger Veggies can quickly make up a vast majority of your lunch if you don’t want to or don’t have time to make a salad. (How To Make the Adult Lunchable)
- Roasted Veggies add a rich depth of flavor and seasoning making you want to eat them.
- Next time you grill, add your favorite veggies as well!
- Stuff Your Sandwich full of veggies, My favorites are lettuce, sprouts, and cucumber. Mr. Hungry loves spinach and shredded carrots.
- Pack them into meatloaf & burgers
- Pack them in casseroles for an easy one dish meal.
- Add chopped mushrooms to ground meat to make it go farther.
- Substitute traditional starches (pasta, bread, potatoes, rice, etc.) with a veggie substitute. (No I don’t think carbs are bad, but I do feel that in general, most people tend to under-consume nonstarchy veggies and over consume starchy carbohydrates. Aim to make 1/2 your nonstarchy plate vegetables!)
- Pasta—> Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini Noodles, French Green Beans, or Broccoli Slaw
- Rice—> Cauliflower Rice (Taco Cauliflower Rice, Turmeric Cauliflower Rice)
- Bread—> Portobello Mushroom Caps or get really adventurous with Delicata Squash Buns
- Lasagna Noodles—> Zucchini Noodle Casserole or Eggplant
- Wraps —> Leafy Greens like these Spicy Chicken Wraps
- French Fries—> Zucchini Fries
- Mash Potatoes—> Mashed Cauliflower (You can always do 1/2 potatoes 1/2 cauliflower too!)
- Hide Veggies In Sauces (like in butternut squash mac and cheese, or my Healthy Cauliflower Carbonara)
- Pack in Veggies in Soups
Snacks
- Snack on pickled foods like pickles and pickled cauliflower (amazing)
- Dips and sauces make veggies delicious!
- Creamy Yogurt Hummus (Another pack in the day classic),
- Spicy Hummus-Yogurt Dip,
- Green Onion and Chive Hummus
- Spicy Guacamole Dip
- Buffalo Butternut Squash “Hummus” (paleo & vegan, also double dipping)
[Tweet “How to increase your veggie intake via @hungryhobby #health #nutrition #cleaneating #weightloss “]
I made the Spanakopita Casserole on Saturday.
Meals
- I recapped most of my meals for the last couple of weeks in this post on Friday.
- Mr. Hungry Lunch—> Spanakopita Casserole
- My Lunch —> Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Sausage
- Dinner
- Monday- Tuna Cakes for both of us
- Tuesday– Eggs for me, PB/J Quesadilla for Mr. Hungry before basketball
- Wednesday- Tuna cakes for Mr. Hungry, salted mocha protein smoothie post track workout for me
- Thursday- Tuna Avocado Salad Mr. Hungry, Broccoli Omelet for Me
- Friday– Paleo Chicken Tenders (needs some tweaking but will share soon!) & Green Beans
- Saturday – finger food for the Cardinals game!
Last Week’s Meal Prep
- Protein Shakes for Mr. Hungry: 1/4cup Hemp Protein, 4-6 cups Vanilla Almond Milk (didn’t measure just filled up the blender), Sun Butter, 1/4cup chia seeds—> these keep all week, just need to be re-shake with a shaker bottle. Sure beats making a new protein shake every night! I only made four because we ran out of protein powder, plus he likes to eat out on Fridays.
- The Chocolate Almond Muffins I told you about in last week’s post. Sooooo good.
- Acorn Squash roasted and cut into rings
- Spaghetti Squash
- Tuna Cakes—> like these.
Hope you have a great rest of our weekend! If you worked on your breakfasts meals last week, I’d love to hear how it went!
The question of the day:
What are your tips to get in more veggies?
52 HEALTHY HABITS IN 52 WEEKS SERIES:
The 52 Healthy Habits Series is about ditching the diet mindset and making small changes to improve health overall naturally leading to a healthy body composition, increased energy and improved health. Please follow along and check out the past weeks!
- Week 52: Healthy Habits Wrap Up
- Week 51: Nightly Reflection
- Week 50: Limit Harmful Chemicals
- Week 49: Find Your Tribe
- Week 48: Cultivating Positivity
- Week 47: Healthy Thanksgiving Tips
- Week 46: Check In
- Week 45: Mobility – Foam Rolling
- Week 44: HIIT Training
- Week 43: LISS or Steady State Cardio
- Week 42: Limit Alcohol
- Week 41: Eat White, Wait What?
- Week 40: Eat Blue & Purple
- Week 39: Eat Green
- Week 38: Eat Yellow/Orange
- Week 37: Eat Red
- Week 36: Learn Which Foods to Purchase Organic
- Week 35: Read the Ingredient List!
- Week 34: Focus.
- Week 33: Chew Your Food!
- Week 32: Meditation
- Week 31: Gratitude Journaling
- Week 30: Plan & Revamp Dessert- 20 Healthy Ideas
- Week 29: Two fistfuls of veggies per meal
- Week 28: Get In Veggies At Breakfast
- Week 27: Healthy Veggie Snacks
- Week 26: Nourishing Fats for the Gut (Healthy Digestion Part 4)
- Week 25: Keeping Regular – The Other Fiber (Healthy Digestion Part 3)
- Week 24: Feed The Probiotics With Prebiotic Fiber (Healthy Digestion Part 2)
- Week 23: Amazing Health Benefits of Probiotics (Healthy Digestion Part 1)
- Week 22: Check In
- Week 21: What You Will Learn From Recording Your Meals (Intuitive Eating Series Part 4)
- Week 20: Eat Until 80% Full (Hara Hachi Bu) (Intuitive Eating Series Part 3)
- Week 19: Limit Distractions While Eating (Intuitive Eating Series Part 2)
- Week 18: Gaging Your Hunger Cues (Intuitive Eating Series Part 1)
- Week 17: 10,000 Steps Per Day
- Week 16: Assess Your Caffeine Intake
- Week 15: Decrease Sugar Intake
- Week 14: Healthy Coffee Creamers (upgrade yours)
- Week 13: 3 Month Check In
- Week 12: Sleep Enough & Sleep Better
- Week 11: Schedule Your Workouts
- Week 10: Pack A Healthy Lunch (5 Ways to Create Endless Combinations)
- Week 9: Prioritizing Protein
- Week 8: How and What to Meal Prep
- Week 7: Create & Stick To Your Healthy Meal Plan
- Week 6: Get Enough Omega-3’s (Fight Inflammation)
- Week 5: What Is A Healthy Fat & How To Get Enough (Include Healthy Fats)
- Week 4: How to Spot A Healthy Carbohydrate (Upgrade Your Carbs)
- Week 3: Tips to Increase Veggie Intake (Eat Veggies)
- Week 2: 15 Healthy On the Go Breakfast Ideas (Eat BF Challenge)
- Week 1: Tips to Drink More Water
Liz @ The Clean Eating Couple says
I’ve been trying SO hard to eat more veggies! These are great recipes that include them 🙂
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
Thanks Liz! I know it can be tough even when you think you are a pro, which I know you guys are!
Ally @OmNomAlly says
These are a lot of easy-to-implement tops for getting more veggies in the diet! I’ve bookmarked and pinned the page so I can check out all the links this week 🙂
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
awesome Ally! I hope you have fun browsing and trying new things 🙂
GiGi Eats says
Oh man, it’s so easy to get veggies in my life, because I love them SOOOO much! ha ha ha! If anything, I love them TOO MUCH!!!! – yes, there is such a thing!
Kelli Shallal MPH RD says
I feel like it would be pretty hard to over do veggies, but I do believe you can have too much of a good thing, where there is a will there is a way!!